Introduction
History with Music Studies at Aberdeen is a great combination, adding to your study of all aspects of human activity in the past with the opportunity to study, compose and perform alongside world-renowned composers and musicologists, working in all genres, styles and periods of history. You will have unrivalled opportunities to grow as a musician and performer and acquire the skills for a wide range of careers related to history, music, or applied in another sector.
Study Information
At a Glance
- Learning Mode
- On Campus Learning
- Degree Qualification
- MA
- Duration
- 48 months
- Study Mode
- Full Time
- Start Month
- September
- UCAS Code
- V1W3
You will be enthused and inspired by teachers who are leaders in their fields, with expertise as diverse as medieval Scandinavia, early-modern Poland and modern East Asia and enthralled by our wonderful collections of historic treasures collected by distinguished alumni over the centuries.
Aberdeen is the ideal environment and location to study music, with 500 years of musical history and heritage and a vibrant cultural identity, which celebrates the traditional while embracing the modern.
In Music Studies, you can develop your interests and abilities in music through courses in performance, composition, theory, musicianship and history of music, taking advantage of the outstanding quality of our teachers, instruments and facilities and many opportunities to perform.
In addition to a career in music, the academic skills you will develop will open opportunities in education, history and heritage, or applied in another sector such as media or business and internationally.
Aberdeen Global Scholarship
The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme.
View the Aberdeen Global ScholarshipWhat You'll Study
- Year 1
-
Compulsory Courses
- Academic Writing for Language & Literature (AW1008)
-
This compulsory evaluation is designed to find out if your academic writing is of a sufficient standard to enable you to succeed at university and, if you need it, to provide support to improve. It is completed on-line via MyAberdeen with clear instructions to guide you through it. If you pass the evaluation at the first assessment it will not take much of your time. If you do not, you will be provided with resources to help you improve. This evaluation does not carry credits but if you do not complete it this will be recorded on your degree transcript.
- Making History (HI1027)
-
15 Credit Points
This course will introduce students to the subject of university level history. Team taught lectures will introduce students to approaches, sources, and the dilemmas facing academic historians.
- Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD1002)
-
This course, which is prescribed for level 1 undergraduate students and articulating students who are in their first year at the University, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.
Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
- Introduction to Music Studies (MU1026)
-
15 Credit Points
This course will examine key ideas and methodologies in music studies, incorporating approaches from a range of ‘disciplines’ such as musicology, ethnomusicology, performance studies, music education and community music. We will discuss a diverse range of topics including: cross cultural definitions of music; the role of music in society; different methodological approaches to the study of music history; how music is learnt in different places and times; and the relationship between music, economics and technology. The course will draw on case studies from musics both within the ‘western’ canon (such as European art music and popular music), as well as musical traditions from across the globe.
Optional Courses
Select AT LEAST ONE of the courses listed below, subject to the necessary pre-requisites:
Select a further 30 credit points from level 1 courses in History and/or Art History, plus further credit points from courses of choice to gain a total of 120 credits.
Please note that performance courses are available only after a successful audition. MA students audition at the beginning of an academic session, likely during welcome week. The Music Department’s office will be in touch nearer that time to offer an audition slot. Please note, there may be little notice between receiving the invite and your actual audition due to the University’s Admissions process. For further information, please contact llmvc.enquiries@abdn.ac.uk.
- Performing and Composing 1 (MU1027)
-
15 Credit Points
This course will engage students in practical music making, developing skills in performing and composing. Students will receive 10 hours of tuition with a specialist instrumental / vocal tutor, and attend lectures on genre, performance style, composing / arranging techniques, rehearsal etiquette, and stagecraft.
In groups of 5-8 performers, students attend a series of rehearsal sessions, where they will plan and manage a group creative project, culminating in a 10-minute performance as part of a mini festival in December.
Students will be expected to attend concerts, join an ensemble, and participate in occasional workshops.
- Performing and Composing 2 (MU1527)
-
15 Credit Points
Building on “Performing and Composing 1”, this course will guide students to developing their own range of interests in creative musical practice. Students will work towards a portfolio of creative outputs, which can include a range of compositions and musical arrangements, and recordings of solo / ensemble performances.
Students receive 10 hours of one-to-one tuition on their chosen instrument / voice, and attend lectures and tutorials focussing variously on issues related to performance, composition, and music technology.
- Introduction to Music Theory and Harmony (MU1557)
-
15 Credit Points
In this course, basic concepts of Western tonal music such as primary triads, cadences, idiomatic chord progressions, and voice leading are taught using exercises in harmonic analysis, figured bass, and part writing. More advanced concepts such as secondary dominants and chromatically-altered chords are also introduced. In parallel to lectures and seminars, students will work with software designed to reinforce key concepts such as clefs, intervals, key signatures, and scale structures.
- Writing About Music (MU1528)
-
15 Credit Points
In this course you will explore ways of writing and talking about music. Lectures will focus on recent work in music studies, showcasing the kind of scholarship you will encounter later in your degree. Tutorials will provide opportunities for experimenting in a range of formal and informal styles, working both individually and in small groups. By the end of the course you will gain a deeper understanding of both established writing conventions and emerging forms of multi-media communication.
- Year 2
-
Optional Courses
Select 60 credit points from available level 2 courses in History, 30 credit points from Music courses at level 2 and 30 credit points from courses of choice.
Plus further courses of choice to make up 120 credit points.
- Analysing Music (MU2055)
-
15 Credit Points
Students will develop a critical awareness of form and structure in music by studying various approaches to musical analysis. The course will draw on a range of analytical methods and musical genres, such as functional harmony and classical form, pitch-class set theory, rhetoric in music, and computer-aided analysis.
- Introduction to Ethnomusicology (MU2057)
-
15 Credit Points
This course offers students an introduction to the field of ethnomusicology, including the historical development of the field, how to conduct fieldwork and some of the field’s key theoretical perspectives. The course will introduce students to a range of musical traditions from around the world through case studies that demonstrate the close relationship between music, society and culture (topics include nationalism, colonialism, identity, race and globalisation). Teaching will take the form of lecture-seminars, reading group sessions and tutorials. The course also has a strong practical element where students will have the opportunity to conduct ethnomusicological fieldwork including ethnographic interviews.
- Global Music History (MU2558)
-
15 Credit Points
Ranging widely across space and time, this course introduces some of the reasons and methods for studying the musical past in a global context. Students will encounter case studies from across world history, with lectures summarising key topics and tutorials allowing for deeper discussion. Students will also consider how historical knowledge about music is itself the product of a global past and will be encouraged to question how we tell the stories of those who made music before us.
- Scottish Folklore and Oral Traditions (EF2501)
-
15 Credit Points
This course introduces students to the principal aspects of Scottish oral traditions from historical times to the present. It should appeal to both international and local students who are interested in learning more about traditional culture in Scotland, as well as the disciplines of Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology.
- Year 3
-
Compulsory Courses
- Thinking History (HI356J)
-
30 Credit Points
This course looks at how history is written. It considers the problems involved in studying and explaining the past, and the many dilemmas faced by historians in reconstructing it. By examining the ways in which history has been written from the Ancient Greeks to Postmodernism, it considers the limits of historical study, asks whether history can ever be a science, and reveals the assumptions behind the various approaches to history that inform its writing. It is designed to provide honours history students with an essential understanding of what they are doing when they study history.
Optional Courses
Plus 60 credit points of level 3 History courses, which may include one of the following approved courses.
Plus, select 30 credit points from level 3 courses in Music.
NOTE: You are required to gain a total of 150 credit points in History across levels 3 and 4, and a total of 90 credit points in Music across levels 3 and 4.
- FS3018 Spanish Identity through Music, Film and Visual Culture
- Architecture and Power (AH3014)
-
30 Credit Points
Architecture can be a synonym for power. Castles that loom over the landscape, the country house and its links with the British Empire and the Victorian prisons designed to incarcerate and extinguish hope. This course takes a thematic approach to the history of architecture to examine the institutions that define our landscapes and cities. Far from being neutral blocks of stone, brick and wood, the architecture of power is designed to define the ways we navigate the world, to intimidate and to reinforce institutions and power structures.
- Painting in Tudor and Early Stuart England (AH3517)
-
30 Credit Points
This course examines the use of art as a tool for propaganda, diplomacy and education in England between 1520 and 1640. It explores how paintings were commissioned, created and consumed in a world of changing religious and political circumstances, and considers the role of art in both consolidating and challenging power. Case studies range from Queen Elizabeth I’s construction of a distinct visual identity as a female monarch, and Peter Paul Rubens’ creation of a grand mural scheme for King Charles I, to the function of jewel-like portrait miniatures, and the recording through pictures of the first encounters between English colonialists and Indigenous American peoples.
- Film and Music (FS3017)
-
30 Credit Points
Music has been fundamental to the way that cinema tells stories. Whether through a specially-composed soundtrack or through the careful selection of existing pieces, music cues characters, evokes a sense of place or atmosphere, be it suspense, horror, nostalgia, or romance. This course will offer students the opportunity to critically engage with some of the most emblematic film soundtracks in the history of cinema.
This interdisciplinary course is suitable for students of Film & Visual Culture or Music. You do not need to be experienced in the study of both subjects to take this course.
- History of Medicine (ME33HM)
-
30 Credit Points
The course will involve each student working individually on a historical project of his or her own choice, under the supervision of the course co-ordinator.
Students will be required to produce a research proposal and progress reports, to prepare an essay and make a presentation of their findings to the class. The aim of the option is to give students the opportunity to research and present, individually, in spoken and written forms, a history of medicine topic of their own choice, using both primary and secondary sources. - Music, Health and Wellbeing (Public Engagement) (ME33PE)
-
30 Credit Points
This course will explore practices and research from the fields of music, therapy, public health and medicine, to rigorously explore the relationship between music, health and wellbeing.
The course differs from its 15 credit counterpart through its extended work in conjunction with NHS Grampians Public Engagement team in the design and implementation of music, health and wellbeing interventions.
- Eurovision: Media, Memory, Euphoria & Identities (FS3535)
-
30 Credit Points
Eurovision is the largest musical event in the world, followed by 70 million people every year. Since its beginnings in 1956, the concept of Eurovision has been changing over the years and through different historical periods, especially with regard to conflicts and European identity and sense of belonging.
The popularity of the event makes it globally recognized by the general public, but what is hidden behind the festival? what meanings do the performances and visual representations have? how are countries, different cultures and folklore represented? Is Eurovision political? How does Eurovision represent national identity?
The purpose of this course is to study the different representation methods offered by the Eurovision Song Contest through not only its history, but also analysing the most recent examples of the festival, focusing especially on the new millennium, with the arrival of new countries into the contest.
- Year 4
-
Optional Courses
Select ONE of the following dissertation options:
- Dissertation in History (HI4516)
- Dissertation in Music (MU4049) AND History in Practice II (HI4518)
Also, select ONE History Special Subject (listed below), plus further credit points from level 3 or 4 courses in Music to gain 60 credits in the discipline.
- HI4003 Special Sub: Enlightenment Compared: Ireland, Scotland, Central Europe
NOTE: You are required to gain a total of 150 credit points in History across levels 3 and 4, and a total of 90 credit points in Music across levels 3 and 4. You are required to gain a minimum of 90 credit points from level 4 courses.
- Undergraduate Dissertation in History (HI4516)
-
30 Credit Points
The undergraduate dissertation is the final-year major research undertaking, based on primary and secondary material and providing a critical analysis of a specific subject chosen by the student. It is obligatory for Single Honours students, whereas Joint Honours students choose to write their dissertation in either of the two subjects. After initial sessions about the nature of the dissertation and research approaches, students develop a topic with the help of a member of staff, who will also supervise their project throughout.
- Dissertation in Music (MU4049)
-
30 Credit Points
This course will entail research work which will contribute to musicological understanding (at undergraduate level). Students will research a topic of their own choice (subject to approval), demonstrating knowledge and understanding of their chosen subject matter in the form of a 10,000 word dissertation.
- History in Practice (HI4518)
-
30 Credit Points
History is not simply a dry, academic study of the past; it shapes a host of contemporary political, economic and cultural attitudes and is a central underpinning to the tourist and heritage industries - now one of the largest sectors of employment among mature western economies. This course is designed to give a critical understanding of the theoretical and practical links (as well as clear distinctions) between the practice of 'academic' History and 'public' History. This is done by having students assess how heritage and tourist businesses project a particular version of the past.
- Film and Music (FS4017)
-
30 Credit Points
Music has been fundamental to the way that cinema tells stories. Whether through a specially-composed soundtrack or through the careful selection of existing pieces, music cues characters, evokes a sense of place or atmosphere, be it suspense, horror, nostalgia, or romance. This course will offer students the opportunity to critically engage with some of the most emblematic film soundtracks in the history of cinema.
This interdisciplinary course is suitable for students of Film & Visual Culture or Music. You do not need to be experienced in the study of both subjects to take this course.
- Literature and Music (EL45HC)
-
30 Credit Points
This course, taught jointly by staff in English and Music, explores the connections between literature and music. How have these art forms informed or overlapped with one another? What sorts of collaboration have taken place? How might literary and musical studies work across disciplinary boundaries? While the focus will be on the British nineteenth century, with case studies addressing different aspects of literary-musical interaction, there will be opportunities for students to address trans-historical theoretical issues and to research topics from other places and periods.
- Special Sub.: Britain and Revolutionary Russia 1917 - 1924 (HI4012)
-
30 Credit Points
This course explores Britain's relations with Russia during the early years of the Soviet regime. It highlights a series of key developments in the relationship, especially major changes in British government policy that charted a course from military intervention to diplomatic recognition. Most of the seminars trace an aspect of the relationship within a fairly short time-frame, but some seminars investigate a particular issue through the whole period 1917–24. Several sessions will be used specifically for analysing gobbets. Knowledge of the Russian language is not required.
- Special Sub: the Child as Subject in the British World (HI401F)
-
30 Credit Points
Historians concur that ideas about the nature of children and the place of childhood have changed over time. This course explores both how modern societies have understood childhood and the way in which this has shaped the treatment of young people. It places a particular focus upon how ideas and understandings of childhood have spanned regional and national borders, as well as the ways in which the concept of youth has been adapted to suit new cultural contexts.
- Spec Sub: Court Society in Late Medieval Europe (C. 1300 – C. 1500) (HI401G)
-
30 Credit Points
The courts of kings and other rulers in the later middle ages (c. 1300 – c. 1500), in which they and their households lived and hosted their subjects as well as visitors from other lands, have been characterised by scholars as both a grand stage for a dying chivalric culture and a creator of conditions for the modern state. This course addresses this apparent paradox and examines the many facets of this phenomenon, using the Scottish royal court as its starting point but also making use of evidence from around Europe. It draws on theories and methods from a range of academic disciplines including sociology, anthropology, art history and literature. Topics include the household, the palace, the competition for status amongst elites at court and the court as a stage for presenting political messages. Students taking the course will emerge with a detailed understanding of the court and the different forms it took and a view on how it shaped the broader history of Europe.
- Special Sub:european Constitutional Monarchies in the Long 19thcentury (HI4023)
-
30 Credit Points
On the eve of the First World War Europe was a continent of monarchies. A long 19th century of revolutions, wars, growing literacy, an expanding public sphere, changes in social, economic, intellectual and technological life and imperial expansion lay behind them, but the continent’s monarchical systems had survived in surprisingly rude health. That monarchies had flourished throughout these profound transformations points to their suppleness and ingenuity. This course offers new perspectives on the political cultures of the states and societies of 19th-century Europe.
- Special Subject: History of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict (HI4025)
-
30 Credit Points
The course examines the origins of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its developments from multiple angles in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex dynamic that constitutes ‘the conflict’. The course will investigate the causes of the Palestinian refugee crisis and of the Arab-Israeli wars. It will introduce students to the Arab-Israeli peace process and familiarise students with the polarised historiography surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict.
- Special Subject: Myths of the North (HI4026)
-
30 Credit Points
This course critically evaluates representations and functions of Old Norse myth and legend in both medieval and modern contexts. It will enable students to better understand the myths, beliefs and stories of Viking and medieval Scandinavia in their own historical contexts, and to analyse the political and cultural implications of their endurance, significance and popularity into the modern world.
We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page. In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips.
How You'll Study
Learning Methods
- Individual Projects
- Lectures
- Research
- Tutorials
Assessment Methods
Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods:
- Coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course.
- Practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course.
- Written examinations at the end of each course.
The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.
Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.
Why Study History with Music Studies?
Why History
- Particular strengths in Irish and Scottish studies, Scandinavia, late medieval/early modern period, and research centres studying global empires, history and philosophy of science, technology and medicine, and Russian and Eastern European history.
- The inspiration of our beautiful historic campus in Old Aberdeen, where King’s College Chapel, begun in 1495 by University founder Bishop Elphinstone, is a treasure-house of history and religious turbulence.
- Major international treasures including 7,000 early printed books, the magnificent 12th century Aberdeen Bestiary, large Jacobite collection, works of the Scottish Enlightenment, and fascinating local records dating from the middle ages.
- A packed campus programme of student and public events, exhibitions, seminars, invited speakers and the annual WayWord literary festival.
- Spectacular, award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library, combining top-class study facilities with state-of-the-art technology, and an online catalogue giving you access to thousands of books and millions of journal articles on the web.
Why Music
- Our academic staff are internationally recognised experts in composition, performance, musicology, music education and music and communities, including royal composer Paul Mealor and other rising stars.
- The University has a full Symphony Orchestra, Chamber and Chapel choirs with growing international reputations, Choral and Opera Societies, and consorts and ensembles across all instruments.
- Specialist facilities include state-of-the-art studios for electroacoustic music, as well as a collection of historic instruments including a 1771 Kirkman harpsichord.
- Excellent performance venues and opportunities, with our early sixteenth-century Chapel often used for services and performances of sacred and concert music, with a magnificent Aubertin organ - the first in the UK.
- Opportunities to perform at ceremonies, graduations, recitals, and the annual WayWORD literary festival for talented students in Scottish traditional and classical instruments, and vocalists.
- The prestigious Ogston Music Prize, and a range of scholarships and special support for students with outstanding talent.
- Three state-of-the-art Electroacoustic Composition studios as well as a number of Music Technology workstations.
- Aberdeen city known as a lively centre for music, with links to the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Aberdeen City Music School, North East of Scotland Music School, and the region's growing Sound festival.
- Masterclasses with leading musicians and the annual WayWORD literary festival which showcases Aberdeen talent, internationally acclaimed choirs, orchestras and musicians.
Entry Requirements
Qualifications
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
General Entry Requirements
- 2025 Entry
-
SQA Highers
Standard: BBBB
Applicants who have achieved BBBB (or better), are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers/ Advanced Highers may be required.
Minimum: BBC
Applicants who have achieved BBC at Higher and meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed an unconditional offer for MA, BSc and BEng degrees.
Adjusted: BB
Applicants who have achieved BB at Higher, and who meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed an adjusted conditional offer for MA, BSc and BEng degrees.
We would expect to issue a conditional offer asking for one additional C grade at Higher.
Foundation Apprenticeship: One FA is equivalent to a Higher at A. It cannot replace any required subjects.
More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.
A LEVELS
Standard: BBC
Minimum: BCC
Adjusted: CCC
More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.
International Baccalaureate
32 points, including 5, 5, 5 at HL.
Irish Leaving Certificate
5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3.
Entry from College
Advanced entry to this degree may be possible from some HNC/HND qualifications, please see www.abdn.ac.uk/study/articulation for more details.
- 2026 Entry
-
SQA Highers
Standard: BBBB
Applicants that present with BBBB will usually receive an unconditional offer.
Where we have more applicants than places we may need to ask for more than the minimum so continued engagement in school is recommended.
Widening Access: BBC
Applicants who meet one or more of our widening access metrics and present with BBC, are guaranteed an unconditional offer.
Foundation Apprenticeship: One FA is equivalent to a Higher at A. It cannot replace any required subjects.
Note: We do not double count a Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject, but we do consider that a B grade at Advanced Higher is equivalent to an A grade at Higher.
National 5 English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C or above.
A LEVELS
Standard: BBC
Widening Access: CCC
GCSE English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C/4 or above.
BTEC LEVEL 3 EXTENDED DIPLOMA
DMM in related subjects.
Note: BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate (Subsidiary Diploma) achieved at Distinction level, is normally acceptable in lieu of one A Level at grade B.)
GCSE English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C/4 or above. GCSE Mathematics at Grade C/4 is also required for Accountancy, Economics and Finance programmes.
IRISH LEAVING CERTIFICATE
Five subjects at Higher at H3.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
32 points including 5, 5, 5 at HL.
SL in English is also required.
The information displayed in this section shows a shortened summary of our entry requirements. For more information, or for full entry requirements for Arts and Social Sciences degrees, see our detailed entry requirements section.
English Language Requirements
To study for an Undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:
IELTS Academic:
OVERALL - 6.0 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0
TOEFL iBT:
OVERALL - 78 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21
PTE Academic:
OVERALL - 59 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59
Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency:
OVERALL - 169 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169
Read more about specific English Language requirements here.
Fees and Funding
You will be classified as one of the fee categories below.
| Fee category | Cost |
|---|---|
| EU / International students | |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | £20,800 |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *) | £14,800 |
| Home Students | |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | £1,820 |
| England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland | |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | £9,535 |
Scholarships and Funding
UK Scholarship
Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.
Aberdeen Global Scholarship
The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme. More about this funding opportunity.Funding Database
View all funding options in our Funding Database.
Careers
There are many opportunities at the University of Aberdeen to develop your knowledge, gain experience and build a competitive set of skills to enhance your employability. This is essential for your future career success. The Careers and Employability Service can help you to plan your career and support your choices throughout your time with us, from first to final year – and beyond.
- More information on employability at the University of Aberdeen
- More information on the Careers and Employability Service
Our Experts
Information About Staff Changes
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
Discover Uni
Discover Uni draws together comparable information in areas students have identified as important in making decisions about what and where to study. You can compare these and other data for different degree programmes in which you are interested.
Get in Touch
Contact Details
- Address
-
Student Recruitment & Admissions
University of Aberdeen
University Office
Regent Walk
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX